As accredited suppliers of corrugated packaging for Henkel, Unipak, Easternpak and Unipak Nile Ltd. participated in Henkel’s Middle East North Africa (MENA) Supplier Day on 30-31 August 2007. The event brought together carton packaging and folding box suppliers from across the region to Auberge des Lacs Hotel in Tunis, Tunisia.

INDEVCO representatives included Mira Frem, Regional Sales & Marketing Manager based in Lebanon, and Dani Khoury, Manager of The Center of Technical Excellence in Lebanon. General Manager Emile Boustany attended on behalf of Unipak Nile, based in Egypt.

Cost Reduction & Optimization Initiatives

“We presented optimization initiatives currently used at our plants, such as how we deal with material specs, product specs, and our manufacturing process,” explains Frem. “We proposed initiatives to improve packaging quality and lower the total cost for Henkel.”

Material Specifications

INDEVCO reps first explained that the division centralizes paper specifications and quality grades for all corrugated plants, based on international standards and best practices. It assesses material performance with the Short Column Test (SCT) and conducts other material testing methods.

INDEVCO Paper & Container Division leverages on competitive pricing to procure approximately 140,000 MT of paper annually for plants in Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The larger the quantity of material procured, the greater the opportunity to pass on preferential prices.

Plants works with the customer to further optimize specifications by product life cycle segments. The end result is a strong, high performance carton when and where the customer needs.

Manufacturing Process

Third, reps then explained how INDEVCO plants optimize structural and graphic design of corrugated products by evaluating product performance via data collection and field trials and recommending cost-effective, high graphics flexographic pre-printing. Further, plants streamline the order and manufacturing processes for clients.

“Henkel Supplier Day enables INDEVCO Paper and Container Division to communicate the benefits of our regional presence,” explains Frem. “Our goal is to further develop the relation between INDEVCO Group and Henkel by implementing the initiatives we proposed.”